The hilarious and exhilarating action-comedy, Gun Shy, rocks out on Blu-ray™ (plus Digital HD), DVD, and Digital HD on November 7 from Lionsgate. Currently available On Demand, the film stars three-time Golden Globe® nominee Antonio Banderas (Best Actor: Evita, 1997; The Mask of Zorro, 1999; And Starring Pancho Villa as Himself, 2004) as a spoiled and aging rock star whose wife is kidnapped while they are on vacation in Chile. With very few skills beyond playing bass and partying, he must pull himselftogether to save his wife from her hostile captors. From Simon West, the director of Con Air, The Expendables 2, Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, and The Mechanic, and written for the screen by Mark Haskell Smith and Toby Davies (based on the novel “Salty” by Smith), the Gun Shy Blu-ray and DVD will be available for the suggested retail price of $21.99 and $19.98, respectively.
Now you can own Gun Shy on Blu-ray. We...
Now you can own Gun Shy on Blu-ray. We...
- 10/24/2017
- by Tom Stockman
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Program Description
The hilarious and exhilarating action-comedy, Gun Shy, rocks out on Blu-ray™ (plus Digital HD), DVD, and Digital HD on November 7 from Lionsgate. Currently available On Demand, the film stars three-time Golden Globe® nominee Antonio Banderas (Best Actor: Evita, 1997; The Mask of Zorro, 1999; And Starring Pancho Villa as Himself, 2004) as a spoiled and aging rock star whose wife is kidnapped while they are on vacation in Chile. With very few skills beyond playing bass and partying, he must pull himself together to save his wife from her hostile captors. From Simon West, the director of Con Air, The Expendables 2, Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, and The Mechanic, and written for the screen by Mark Haskell Smith and Toby Davies (based on the novel “Salty” by Smith), the Gun Shy Blu-ray and DVD will be available for the suggested retail price of $21.99 and $19.98, respectively.=
Official Synopsis
When vacationing in Chile,...
The hilarious and exhilarating action-comedy, Gun Shy, rocks out on Blu-ray™ (plus Digital HD), DVD, and Digital HD on November 7 from Lionsgate. Currently available On Demand, the film stars three-time Golden Globe® nominee Antonio Banderas (Best Actor: Evita, 1997; The Mask of Zorro, 1999; And Starring Pancho Villa as Himself, 2004) as a spoiled and aging rock star whose wife is kidnapped while they are on vacation in Chile. With very few skills beyond playing bass and partying, he must pull himself together to save his wife from her hostile captors. From Simon West, the director of Con Air, The Expendables 2, Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, and The Mechanic, and written for the screen by Mark Haskell Smith and Toby Davies (based on the novel “Salty” by Smith), the Gun Shy Blu-ray and DVD will be available for the suggested retail price of $21.99 and $19.98, respectively.=
Official Synopsis
When vacationing in Chile,...
- 9/14/2017
- by ComicMix Staff
- Comicmix.com
As the director of films like “Con Air” and “The Expendables 2,” Simon West has worked with some of the biggest names in Hollywood, including Nicolas Cage and Sylvester Stallone. But for his latest film, “Gun Shy,” he tapped some less-famous people: He crowdfunded. The Saban Films comedy (based on the Mark Haskell Smith novel “Salty”) stars Antonio Banderas as an aging rock star who battles rebels in the South American jungle to rescue his kidnapped wife (Olga Kurylenko). It’s the first time a major theatrical release has been crowdfunded, setting U.K. fundraising records along the way. But West actually started out.
- 9/8/2017
- by Matt Pressberg
- The Wrap
Carnaby International handles worldwide sales on action thriller.
Saban Films has acquired North American rights to Simon West’s Gun Shy starring Antonio Banderas and Olga Kurylenko.
Toby Davies and Mark Haskell Smith adapted the novel by Haskell Smith about an aging rock star whose supermodel wife is kidnapped on vacation in Chile.
The pampered superstar must drawn on untested resources as he follows the trail through the back alleys of Santiago and jungles of South America.
West and Jib Polhemus produced through Simon West Productions banner alongside Harry Stourton.
Saban will release Gun Shy theatrically in select cities on September 8. Ness Saban and Bill Bromiley negotiated the deal with the film’s London-based worldwide sales agent Carnaby International.
“Gun Shy is a supremely entertaining film,” Bromiley said. “Our audiences will delight in Antonio Banderas’ raucous performance and director Simon West’s unique and wild vision.”
Saban Films recently acquired John Travolta’s Speed Kills and Ethan Hawke...
Saban Films has acquired North American rights to Simon West’s Gun Shy starring Antonio Banderas and Olga Kurylenko.
Toby Davies and Mark Haskell Smith adapted the novel by Haskell Smith about an aging rock star whose supermodel wife is kidnapped on vacation in Chile.
The pampered superstar must drawn on untested resources as he follows the trail through the back alleys of Santiago and jungles of South America.
West and Jib Polhemus produced through Simon West Productions banner alongside Harry Stourton.
Saban will release Gun Shy theatrically in select cities on September 8. Ness Saban and Bill Bromiley negotiated the deal with the film’s London-based worldwide sales agent Carnaby International.
“Gun Shy is a supremely entertaining film,” Bromiley said. “Our audiences will delight in Antonio Banderas’ raucous performance and director Simon West’s unique and wild vision.”
Saban Films recently acquired John Travolta’s Speed Kills and Ethan Hawke...
- 6/8/2017
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
Saban Films has acquired North American distribution rights to Simon West's Gun Shy, starring Antonio Banderas and Olga Kurylenko.
The action film was written by Toby Davies and Mark Haskell Smith. West and Jib Polhemus produced under the Simon West Productions banner alongside Harry Stourton.
Adapted from the novel also written by Haskell Smith, Gun Shy (formerly titled Salty) follows Turk Henry (Banderas), an aging mid-level rock star whose supermodel wife (Kurylenko) is suddenly kidnapped while they are vacationing in Chile. Accustomed to his extravagant lifestyle and lacking basic life skills, Turk finds himself perplexed in having...
The action film was written by Toby Davies and Mark Haskell Smith. West and Jib Polhemus produced under the Simon West Productions banner alongside Harry Stourton.
Adapted from the novel also written by Haskell Smith, Gun Shy (formerly titled Salty) follows Turk Henry (Banderas), an aging mid-level rock star whose supermodel wife (Kurylenko) is suddenly kidnapped while they are vacationing in Chile. Accustomed to his extravagant lifestyle and lacking basic life skills, Turk finds himself perplexed in having...
- 6/8/2017
- by Rebecca Ford
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Saban Films has acquired the Antonio Banderas-starring film Gun Shy for theatrical release. The film, directed by Simon West and previously titled Salty, will be released on Sept. 8 this year. Olga Kurylenko (Quantum of Solace, Oblivion) also stars in the actioner written by Toby Davies and Mark Haskell Smith. West and Jib Polhemus produced under the Simon West Productions banner alongside Harry Stourton. The film was adapted from the novel also written by Smith and…...
- 6/8/2017
- Deadline
Shoot underway in Chile on crowd-funded action-comedy from Con Air director.
Olga Kurylenko (Quantum Of Solace) will star opposite Antonio Banderas in Simon West’s (Con Air) action-comedy Salty, which begins principal photography today in Chile.
Kurylenko will play Sheila Enry wife of Banderas’ Turk Enry, an ageing rock star and reformed sex addict married to a supermodel who is abducted by pirates on holiday in Chile.
The partly crowd-funded film is being produced by Los Angeles and UK-based production company, Simon West Productions and is adapted from the novel by Mark Haskell Smith.
Producers are Jib Polhemus (Lara Croft: Tomb Raider) and Harry Stourton (Lara Croft: Tomb Raider) with screenplay by Mark Haskell Smith (TV series Star Trek Voyager) and Toby Davies (The Mitchell and Webb Look).
Director West said: “‘I’m delighted Olga has joined Antonio and the rest of the cast. Her talents in both action and comedy make her the perfect ‘Sheila’. I’m excited...
Olga Kurylenko (Quantum Of Solace) will star opposite Antonio Banderas in Simon West’s (Con Air) action-comedy Salty, which begins principal photography today in Chile.
Kurylenko will play Sheila Enry wife of Banderas’ Turk Enry, an ageing rock star and reformed sex addict married to a supermodel who is abducted by pirates on holiday in Chile.
The partly crowd-funded film is being produced by Los Angeles and UK-based production company, Simon West Productions and is adapted from the novel by Mark Haskell Smith.
Producers are Jib Polhemus (Lara Croft: Tomb Raider) and Harry Stourton (Lara Croft: Tomb Raider) with screenplay by Mark Haskell Smith (TV series Star Trek Voyager) and Toby Davies (The Mitchell and Webb Look).
Director West said: “‘I’m delighted Olga has joined Antonio and the rest of the cast. Her talents in both action and comedy make her the perfect ‘Sheila’. I’m excited...
- 6/27/2016
- by andreas.wiseman@screendaily.com (Andreas Wiseman)
- ScreenDaily
The 12th Man
Jonathan Rhys Meyers has signed on to play German commander Kurt Stage in Harold Zwart's WW2 drama "The 12th Man". The story follows Jan Baalsrud, a Norwegian resistance fighter, one of a dozen saboteurs trained by British intelligence to carry out a raid on an air traffic control tower in the Norwegian city of Bardufoss in 1943. [Source: THR]
Mafiya
Daniel Bruhl has signed up for the ten-episode TV series "Mafiya" for The Weinstein Co. and ITV Studios. William Nicholson ("Gladiator," "Shadowlands") penned the script which is set around the fall of the Soviet Union as criminal gangs and private armies clashed over wealth and control. Bruhl plays a man who goes from street trader to one of the richest and powerful individuals in the country. [Source: THR]
Aspern Papers
Mother and daughter Vanessa Redgrave and Joely Richardson are teaming to star in Julien Landais' "Aspern Papers" for Film House Germany.
Jonathan Rhys Meyers has signed on to play German commander Kurt Stage in Harold Zwart's WW2 drama "The 12th Man". The story follows Jan Baalsrud, a Norwegian resistance fighter, one of a dozen saboteurs trained by British intelligence to carry out a raid on an air traffic control tower in the Norwegian city of Bardufoss in 1943. [Source: THR]
Mafiya
Daniel Bruhl has signed up for the ten-episode TV series "Mafiya" for The Weinstein Co. and ITV Studios. William Nicholson ("Gladiator," "Shadowlands") penned the script which is set around the fall of the Soviet Union as criminal gangs and private armies clashed over wealth and control. Bruhl plays a man who goes from street trader to one of the richest and powerful individuals in the country. [Source: THR]
Aspern Papers
Mother and daughter Vanessa Redgrave and Joely Richardson are teaming to star in Julien Landais' "Aspern Papers" for Film House Germany.
- 5/14/2016
- by Garth Franklin
- Dark Horizons
Antonio Banderas has been set to star in Simon West's action-comedy, Salty. Principal photography begins next month in Chile. Banderas will play Turk Henry, an aging rock star and reformed sex addict married to a supermodel who is abducted by pirates while on vacation. The story is adapted from the novel by Mark Haskell Smith. Carnaby Sales & Distribution is handling world rights on the film which is said to be the largest equity crowd-funded project ever. Deals are…...
- 5/11/2016
- Deadline
Con Air director’s film has banked £1.8m ($2.7m), according to the production.
Simon West’s action-comedy Salty has become the most successful UK film on a crowd-funding platform to date, raising £1.9m ($2.8m), according to the production.
The film hit its crowdfunding target of £1.8m ($2.7m) on March 14 with additional investment available until next weekend.
The project is raising money through platform SyndicateRoom with investors promised a stake in the film’s profits.
The rest of the film’s $10m budget is due to be raised through angel investment, tax credit returns and pre-sales.
Carnaby handles sales on the film and has inked pre-sales with Indonesia (Pt Prima Cinema), Bulgaria, Czech Republic & Slovakia, Former Yugoslavia, Hungary and Romania (Prorom), Poland (Kino Swiat), Israel (Five Stars), Middle East (Gulf Film) and Turkey (Central Park).
Salty, adapted by Mark Haskell Smith from his novel of the same name, follows an ageing rock star whose holiday in Thailand takes a...
Simon West’s action-comedy Salty has become the most successful UK film on a crowd-funding platform to date, raising £1.9m ($2.8m), according to the production.
The film hit its crowdfunding target of £1.8m ($2.7m) on March 14 with additional investment available until next weekend.
The project is raising money through platform SyndicateRoom with investors promised a stake in the film’s profits.
The rest of the film’s $10m budget is due to be raised through angel investment, tax credit returns and pre-sales.
Carnaby handles sales on the film and has inked pre-sales with Indonesia (Pt Prima Cinema), Bulgaria, Czech Republic & Slovakia, Former Yugoslavia, Hungary and Romania (Prorom), Poland (Kino Swiat), Israel (Five Stars), Middle East (Gulf Film) and Turkey (Central Park).
Salty, adapted by Mark Haskell Smith from his novel of the same name, follows an ageing rock star whose holiday in Thailand takes a...
- 3/16/2015
- by andreas.wiseman@screendaily.com (Andreas Wiseman)
- ScreenDaily
Carnaby to be world sales agent on action-comedy from the director of Con Air and Expendables 2.
London-based Carnaby Sales & Distribution has partnered with Simon West Productions as worldwide sales agent on action-comedy Salty,which is set to begin principal photography in Thailand from Q4 2015.
Directed by Simon West (Con Air, Expendables 2), the film follows a reformed sex-addict muso who is persuaded to take a holiday in Thailand by his wife, a former supermodel. Things take a turn for the worse when she’s kidnapped by Thai pirates raising money to buy a new boat.
Mark Haskell Smith’s original script, adapted from his novel of the same name, has been reworked by West and comedy writer Toby Davies (That Mitchell and Webb Look).
The sales agreement was struck by Carnaby joint CEOs Sean O’Kelly and Andrew Loveday, together with West, Harry Stourton and Jib Polhemus of Simon West Productions.
Pre-sale negotiations...
London-based Carnaby Sales & Distribution has partnered with Simon West Productions as worldwide sales agent on action-comedy Salty,which is set to begin principal photography in Thailand from Q4 2015.
Directed by Simon West (Con Air, Expendables 2), the film follows a reformed sex-addict muso who is persuaded to take a holiday in Thailand by his wife, a former supermodel. Things take a turn for the worse when she’s kidnapped by Thai pirates raising money to buy a new boat.
Mark Haskell Smith’s original script, adapted from his novel of the same name, has been reworked by West and comedy writer Toby Davies (That Mitchell and Webb Look).
The sales agreement was struck by Carnaby joint CEOs Sean O’Kelly and Andrew Loveday, together with West, Harry Stourton and Jib Polhemus of Simon West Productions.
Pre-sale negotiations...
- 3/9/2015
- by michael.rosser@screendaily.com (Michael Rosser)
- ScreenDaily
Expendables 2 director talks crowd-funding, a Con Air sequel and Tolkien & Lewis.
Con Air and The Expendables 2 director Simon West is turning to crowd-funding platform SyndicateRoom to help finance his upcoming action-comedy Salty.
In an unusual move for such a high profile film, UK investors are being invited to own a stake in the film by buying shares in company Salty Film Ltd via the equity crowd-funding platform SyndicateRoom.
According to West’s Simon West Productions, angel investors have already bought £450,000 of equity in Salty Films, with remaining shares available at a minimum of £1,000.
The production is aiming for crowd-funding investors to make up £1.8m of the film’s projected £5.9m ($10m) budget, with the remainder expected from pre-sales and tax credits.
West’s production outfit is in advanced negotiations with a Us sales outfit for the project, which the director hopes to shoot in 2015.
Salty follows a reformed sex-addict muso who is persuaded to take a...
Con Air and The Expendables 2 director Simon West is turning to crowd-funding platform SyndicateRoom to help finance his upcoming action-comedy Salty.
In an unusual move for such a high profile film, UK investors are being invited to own a stake in the film by buying shares in company Salty Film Ltd via the equity crowd-funding platform SyndicateRoom.
According to West’s Simon West Productions, angel investors have already bought £450,000 of equity in Salty Films, with remaining shares available at a minimum of £1,000.
The production is aiming for crowd-funding investors to make up £1.8m of the film’s projected £5.9m ($10m) budget, with the remainder expected from pre-sales and tax credits.
West’s production outfit is in advanced negotiations with a Us sales outfit for the project, which the director hopes to shoot in 2015.
Salty follows a reformed sex-addict muso who is persuaded to take a...
- 7/30/2014
- by andreas.wiseman@screendaily.com (Andreas Wiseman)
- ScreenDaily
Expendables 2 director talks crowd-funding, a Con Air sequel and Tolkien & Lewis.
Con Air and The Expendables 2 director Simon West is turning to crowd-funding platform SyndicateRoom to help finance his upcoming action-comedy Salty.
In an unusual move for such a high profile film, UK investors are being invited to own a stake in the film by buying shares in company Salty Film Ltd via the equity crowd-funding platform SyndicateRoom.
According to West’s Simon West Productions, angel investors have already bought £450,000 of equity in Salty Films, with remaining shares available at a minimum of £1,000.
The production is aiming for crowd-funding investors to make up £1.8m of the film’s projected £5.9m ($10m) budget, with the remainder expected from pre-sales and tax credits.
West’s production outfit is in advanced negotiations with a Us sales outfit for the project, which the director hopes to shoot in 2015.
Salty follows a reformed sex-addict muso who is persuaded to take a...
Con Air and The Expendables 2 director Simon West is turning to crowd-funding platform SyndicateRoom to help finance his upcoming action-comedy Salty.
In an unusual move for such a high profile film, UK investors are being invited to own a stake in the film by buying shares in company Salty Film Ltd via the equity crowd-funding platform SyndicateRoom.
According to West’s Simon West Productions, angel investors have already bought £450,000 of equity in Salty Films, with remaining shares available at a minimum of £1,000.
The production is aiming for crowd-funding investors to make up £1.8m of the film’s projected £5.9m ($10m) budget, with the remainder expected from pre-sales and tax credits.
West’s production outfit is in advanced negotiations with a Us sales outfit for the project, which the director hopes to shoot in 2015.
Salty follows a reformed sex-addict muso who is persuaded to take a...
- 7/30/2014
- by andreas.wiseman@screendaily.com (Andreas Wiseman)
- ScreenDaily
Here at People we're all about telling a good story, be it the behind-the-scenes happenings of Hollywood or what former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is up to these days. But before there's a good story, there has to be a good storyteller. A few of our staff have their noses buried in fiction and non-fiction books that depict how hilarious, inspiring or terrifying a storyteller can be. Share your thoughts on their choices - and let us know what you're reading. John Soper, Editorial AssistantHis Pick: Raw: A Love Story by Mark Haskell Smith I picked up this book...
- 6/5/2014
- by Janine Rayford Rubenstein
- PEOPLE.com
According to MTV Movies Blog, director Barry Sonnenfeld wanted Justin Timberlake for the lead role in “Moist” years ago before he appeared in any feature films. Now the “Be Cool” and “Adams Family” director is looking at the singer as a possibility once more to get the project’s juices flowing. According to the article, “Moist is a darkly comic novel by Mark Haskell Smith about a morgue attendant named Bob, who is “living way below his ability,” spending all his free time playing video games, until he comes across a severed arm with an erotic tattoo of a woman he falls for. In the course of trying to find out who she is, Bob ends up becoming Roberto, a kingpin of the Los Angeles Mexican mafia — ultimately replacing the man who the severed arm belonged to in the first place.” “I love the book,” Sonnenfeld said. “Tonally, it’s like ‘Pineapple Express.
- 9/16/2008
- UGO Movies
You'd think after Be Cool tanked so spectacularly, that writer/director Barry Sonnenfeld might regroup and consider doing something different. You'd be wrong of course. In a bizarre case of jumping back on the horse and the bandwagon at the same time, Sonnenfeld has said he is actively pursuing an adaptation of Mark Haskell Smith's quirky mobster comedy novel Moist. Again. MTV spoke to Sonnenfeld, who has said he is trying to reinvigorate interest in the project after a failed attempt in 2005. At that time he was courting pop-star and wannabe actor Justin Timberlake for the lead role as a morgue attendant who becomes a mafia kingpin while trying to track down the real life inspiration for an erotic tattoo. While Sonnenfeld makes it clear that Timberlake had nothing to do with the original financing falling though (more likely to be a combination of Timberlake's critical drubbing in debut...
- 9/10/2008
- cinemablend.com
Simon West Prods. has optioned Salty from novelist Mark Haskell Smith. Simon West, director of When a Stranger Calls, intends to produce and direct. Smith, a Los Angeles-based writer, is almost finished with the screenplay about a reformed sex-addicted bass player who gets dragged to Thailand for a vacation by his ex-supermodel wife. While in Thailand, his wife is kidnapped by Thai pirates raising money to buy a new boat.
- 10/13/2006
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Barry Sonnenfeld has teamed with CBS for a detective drama. Sonnenfeld is set to executive produce and direct the untitled private eye project set in the Bahamas. Mark Haskell Smith (A Partilha) will pen the script for the show, which has received a premium script commitment from the network. Sonnenfeld and Smith are executive producing the P.I. drama with Dawson's Creek exec producer Paul Stupin. This past development season, Sonnenfeld directed and executive produced the CBS drama pilot The Webster Report. He also served as a producer on ABC's critically praised but short-lived drama Karen Sisco. On the feature side, Sonnenfeld most recently produced The Ladykillers. He is repped by CAA and attorney Melanie Cook. Smith and Stupin are repped by Endeavor.
- 8/24/2004
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Returning to the kind of idiosyncratic films he used to do before becoming the star of a hit TV series (see "The Rapture", "Kalifornia"), David Duchovny refuses to let success stand in the way of risk-taking with "Playing God".
While the effort may be admirable, the result is a pretentious, blood-spattered misfire of a crime thriller that will have Mulder's "X-Files" faithful wondering what kind of alien presence clouded his brain while he was reading Mark Haskell Smith's tediously farfetched script.
Although it may attract a few curiosity-seekers, "Playing God"'s boxoffice prospects are considerably less than divine.
At least Duchovny's character had potential. A drug-addicted doctor who lost his medical license after botching an operation while messed up on amphetamines, Dr. Eugene Sands isn't exactly an "ER" poster boy.
Still, he isn't quite able to forget about the Hippocratic oath, and when a patron is shot point-blank at one of his seedier hangouts, Sands comes to the rescue and does amazing things with an empty water bottle and a little tubing.
His makeshift first-aid technique attracts the attention of powerful criminal mastermind Raymond Blossom (a way-over-the-top Timothy Hutton with ever-changing blond highlights), who solicits Sands' services as a "gunshot doctor" administering to the life-threatening wounds of Blossom's lowlife associates, who understandably happen to be hospital-shy.
Reluctantly, Sands accepts the gig -- the generous $10,000 payments and perks help support his ongoing pharmaceutical habits -- but things get a little complicated when he develops more than a doctor-patient relationship with Blossom's coolly seductive girlfriend Claire (Angelina Jolie).
That triangle is the prevailing motif here, and in case we miss the point, first-time feature director Andy Wilson (TV's "Cracker") and production designer Naomi Shohan ("Feeling Minnesota") load the picture with enough three-sided examples (swimming pools, interior decor, fancy lap dissolves) to fill an entire geometry semester. Production values are likewise overtly purposeful.
If he had been a little more concerned with matters of plot and character instead of trying so hard to be cutting edge, Wilson might have at least salvaged the wildly uneven performances. While Duchovny brings his patented puppy dog-eyed amiability to a potentially unsympathetic role, he barely breaks a sweat despite all the action, and those wall-to-wall, philosophical voice-overs grow increasingly annoying.
Still, he's more grounded than Hutton, who seems completely out of control here, doing some kind of bad Bruce Dern impression of a psychotic bad guy.
As the woman who comes between them, Jolie (daughter of newly transformed screen heavy Jon Voight), brings an intriguingly exotic, aloof quality to an otherwise thankless part.
PLAYING GOD
Buena Vista
Touchstone Pictures
presents in association with Beacon Pictures
a film by Andy Wilson
Director Andy Wilson
Screenwriter Mark Haskell Smith
Producers Marc Abraham,
Laura Bickford
Executive producers Armyan Bernstein,
Thomas A. Bliss
Director of photography Anthony B. Richmond
Production designer Naomi Shohan
Editor Louise Rubacky
Costume designer Mary Zophres
Music Richard Hartley
Music supervisor G. Marq Roswell
Color/stereo
Cast:
Eugene David Duchovny
Raymond Timothy Hutton
Claire Angelina Jolie
Gage Michael Massee
Vladimir Peter Stormare
Yates Gary Dourdan
Running time -- 95 minutes
MPAA rating: R...
While the effort may be admirable, the result is a pretentious, blood-spattered misfire of a crime thriller that will have Mulder's "X-Files" faithful wondering what kind of alien presence clouded his brain while he was reading Mark Haskell Smith's tediously farfetched script.
Although it may attract a few curiosity-seekers, "Playing God"'s boxoffice prospects are considerably less than divine.
At least Duchovny's character had potential. A drug-addicted doctor who lost his medical license after botching an operation while messed up on amphetamines, Dr. Eugene Sands isn't exactly an "ER" poster boy.
Still, he isn't quite able to forget about the Hippocratic oath, and when a patron is shot point-blank at one of his seedier hangouts, Sands comes to the rescue and does amazing things with an empty water bottle and a little tubing.
His makeshift first-aid technique attracts the attention of powerful criminal mastermind Raymond Blossom (a way-over-the-top Timothy Hutton with ever-changing blond highlights), who solicits Sands' services as a "gunshot doctor" administering to the life-threatening wounds of Blossom's lowlife associates, who understandably happen to be hospital-shy.
Reluctantly, Sands accepts the gig -- the generous $10,000 payments and perks help support his ongoing pharmaceutical habits -- but things get a little complicated when he develops more than a doctor-patient relationship with Blossom's coolly seductive girlfriend Claire (Angelina Jolie).
That triangle is the prevailing motif here, and in case we miss the point, first-time feature director Andy Wilson (TV's "Cracker") and production designer Naomi Shohan ("Feeling Minnesota") load the picture with enough three-sided examples (swimming pools, interior decor, fancy lap dissolves) to fill an entire geometry semester. Production values are likewise overtly purposeful.
If he had been a little more concerned with matters of plot and character instead of trying so hard to be cutting edge, Wilson might have at least salvaged the wildly uneven performances. While Duchovny brings his patented puppy dog-eyed amiability to a potentially unsympathetic role, he barely breaks a sweat despite all the action, and those wall-to-wall, philosophical voice-overs grow increasingly annoying.
Still, he's more grounded than Hutton, who seems completely out of control here, doing some kind of bad Bruce Dern impression of a psychotic bad guy.
As the woman who comes between them, Jolie (daughter of newly transformed screen heavy Jon Voight), brings an intriguingly exotic, aloof quality to an otherwise thankless part.
PLAYING GOD
Buena Vista
Touchstone Pictures
presents in association with Beacon Pictures
a film by Andy Wilson
Director Andy Wilson
Screenwriter Mark Haskell Smith
Producers Marc Abraham,
Laura Bickford
Executive producers Armyan Bernstein,
Thomas A. Bliss
Director of photography Anthony B. Richmond
Production designer Naomi Shohan
Editor Louise Rubacky
Costume designer Mary Zophres
Music Richard Hartley
Music supervisor G. Marq Roswell
Color/stereo
Cast:
Eugene David Duchovny
Raymond Timothy Hutton
Claire Angelina Jolie
Gage Michael Massee
Vladimir Peter Stormare
Yates Gary Dourdan
Running time -- 95 minutes
MPAA rating: R...
- 10/17/1997
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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